Say What!?
Moms Who Breastfeed Longer Earn Less At Work
We've all heard it a hundred times: Breastfeeding is free. No need to buy formula and bottles if you just nurse, right? Well ... kinda. As anyone who's ever bought a breast pump, lugged it to work, and then carved out time to pump and read emails simultaneously knows, that's not exactly the whole story.
Unfortunately, nursing can cost you a lot: A new study shows that women who breastfeed for six months or longer "suffer more severe and more prolonged earnings losses than do mothers who breastfeed for shorter durations or not at all." Harrumph! Well, given that unfortunate news, breastfeeding doesn't sound like such a great investment after all. But is that the only way to look at this study?
Women who breastfeed for six months or longer lose income because they're more likely to quit or switch to part-time work. But would new moms be more likely to stick around full-time if, say, we had onsite daycare at our offices? One of the authors of the study, Phyllis Rippeyoung, thinks the study shows that new moms need a lot more support than we're currently getting.
Currently, breastfeeding promotion focuses almost exclusively on encouraging women to breastfeed -- without providing adequate economic and social supports to facilitate the practice -- a reality that helps reproduce gender, class, and racial inequality. Legislation more supportive of breastfeeding would include paid parental leave and onsite daycares. Unless these or other policies are put in place, formula-feeding will continue to be the only realistic option for many women in the United States.
Ptthhh, that'll be the day. Not in this political climate! When breastfed babies start pooping gold coins, maybe then we'll start valuing the work nursing mothers do. But until then, all of this is just a pipe dream. It's every breastfeeding mama for herself, never mind the medical savings down the road for breastfed babies, the reduction in sick days, and other benefits of breastfeeding.
Still, at least some businesses are ahead of the game and already provide onsite daycare. Over a quarter of the companies on CNN's "Best Companies to Work For" list provide that benefit for their employees. You still have to pay for that child care, but at least it's hosted at the office so you can pop in and nurse at feeding times.
It's a benefit a lot of moms would love to see at more companies. But it's not going to happen unless more of us start asking for it.
Did you work and breastfeed for six months or more? If not, what would have helped you?
Image via Raphael Goetter/Flickr
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TorranceMom
LoveMyViolet
I noticed at my previous job, that right when I hit the 6 month mark of bf'ing I started being questioned and looked at differently when I went to pump. Before I left that company (at month 9 of bf'ing) I was yelled at on a daily basis for whatever they could find to blame me with AND then they would throw in how I need to plan my pumping breaks better AND even went as far as to tell me how often I should be pumping during a day (at the time I was pumping twice a day). I now work at a job wher eI make less money and have absolutely no job growth BUT I do not get hassled for having to leave to pick up my child for daycare or stay home sick with her and that is worth more to me than money. That said, it does suck that I was basicallly punished for having a child.
MsRkg
I did work and bf for six months, but i never had any problems with it partly because I work for an absolutely amazing business. We're a small IT consultant firm , that prides itself on having a no-hour workday and treating all employees like family. That said I was offered 24 weeks maternal leave, but i choose to come back early because we had such a heavy work load at the time. I'm one of five women in the company, but my boss had no problem with me taking any amount of time needed to pump, or even having the baby popped into the office with the nanny for a quick feed if they were in the area. The result, I logged more hours at work and got more done because I didn't need to stress about how I was feeding my son, or if i ever needed to leave it was never an issue. My opinion, I think companies need to stop treating new moms like its a burden for them and making everything harder for them, but instead give them a helping hand in certain areas, whether that is more scheduled time to pump or on-site daycare, and they will see the return back in the work of these moms.
Lulu425
What about from the business standpoint? To play devil's advocate, after coming back from maternity leave, which may or may not have been paid at a reduced salary, you're taking more breaks than other employees because you're choosing to breastfeed.
The issue is when a few moms abuse the system. Do we really think that at least a couple of the moms who "pop down to feed their child" don't do so once or twice more than necessary to visit their little pumpkin? In a standard 8-hour workday, in addition to your lunch break you're taking a few extra 20-minute breaks to pump. If anything, the "pump breaks" should be unpaid.
And yes, I'm a working mom and yes I pumped. It was hard but I shouldn't shirk my duties at work, the same way I couldn't avoid pumping.
Mandago
MamaDV1012
Now that it is a federal law to provide breastfeeding working mothers with the time and location, it shouldn't be like this anymore. My employer has always been supportive. I am nursing/pumping for my second child who is 6.5 months. It is a lot of work and dedication but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Freela
Correlation doesn't equal causation, and I wonder if there is a reverse relationship here- not that moms who bf longer lose income, but that moms who have less income (ie. SAHM or part time employment) are more likely to breastfeed longer.
Stacey.
I dont think businesses should hurt their bottom line because an employee chose to have a child and breastfeed. I also do not think it's right for other employess to have to work harder to make up for a moms lack of work due to her outside choices.
Im so sick of all this "moms need more support" shit like being a mother means everyone needs to cater more to you. When you're life changes, YOU adapt to the world, the world does not adapt to you.
LoveMyViolet
And should I work harder for those taking smoking breaks? I pumped twice a day, once during my lunch hour and once during my break. It was unpaid breaks and I was cool with that. I also was super paranoid about it taking too long. But the smokers, no one questions them. How many smoke breaks do they take? How much do I or anyone else have to work harder to make up for their breaks? How much harder do I have to work to make up for the guy that strolls in at 10 am and leaves early?
BTW - Freela, I ended up losing $6000 a year in salary to take a job that didn't harass me or punish me for breastfeeding past 6 months. And make no mistake, I was punished. Even though I still worked harder than most employees there. I wasn't asking people to cater to me, just be more understanding.
OoOJanisOoO